Joe Barnett

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.           —Romans 12:6 You’ve read stories about the extraordinary faith and works of people like Albert Schweitzer, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Mother Teresa. Inspiring. And depressing. Because you think if that’s what it takes, you’ll never make it. You’re not planning on […]

Run in such a way as to get the prize.               —1 Corinthians 9:24 I see the lady several mornings a week, walking her dog; a funny looking greyhound. There used to be a dog track south of town on I-45. Maybe that’s where she got her greyhound; some

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.                   —Philippians 2:4 The man of the house read the paper while his overnight guest played with his kids and thrilled them with magic tricks. The father put his

You are worth more than many sparrows.                                        —Luke 12:7 What a week! It was the week in 1997 that Princess Diana died in Paris, Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, and Viktor Frankl died in Vienna. And

When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.           —Luke 22:32 Jesus told Peter he would deny him. Peter said he wouldn’t. He did. Satan won that round. But Jesus knew the fight wasn’t over and that Peter would win: “When you have turned back,” he said, “strengthen your brothers.” Not

Go now and leave your life of sin.                        —John 8:11 “Adulteress!” they shrieked. “The Law says to stone her. What do you say Jesus?” What did he say? “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a

Encourage one another and build each other up. —1 Thessalonians 5:11 “She believed in me!” That’s what Henry Ward Beecher said about a teacher who taught in the rural elementary school he attended as a youngster. At the height of his impressive career, he said she was responsible for whatever success he had achieved. Teachers,

Love your neighbor as yourself.                 —Mark 12:31 All around us are people who are fighting private wars, secret hungers, inner poverty. When Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” he wasn’t tossing out a cliché to slap on the refrigerator door; he was telling us to feel

I am poor and needy.      —Psalm 40:17 This morning’s chilling headline declared: Death of Innocents! The accompanying picture was haunting: starving children with tear-streaked cheeks, bloated bellies, and arms and legs like sticks. Such deprivation is foreign to most of us . . . but emotional hunger may gnaw at us; a craving

The evil I do not want to do— this I keep on doing.     —Romans 7:19 Some things are so routine we shuffle through them without giving it a thought. Others are so jarring they make our teeth rattle. That’s when we know we’re at war. Sometimes relationships hit the skids, and we go